


Everybody wants to change the world

by OceanicWitch



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, This is an AU, the warnings will come in to play in later chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-03-09 17:24:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13486236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OceanicWitch/pseuds/OceanicWitch
Summary: Pyrrha had died, but her faith in Ruby, and her need to protect her, brought her back. However, now she is stuck in a place she does not know, with a woman she has just met, and her whole world has been upturned with the information she's been told.





	1. But no one wants to die

**Author's Note:**

> this will be fairly long, so expect more chapters soon. Ill tag more characters as they're introduced.

The last thing Pyrrha felt was pain.  
White hot, piercing pain.  
All her hope fled, until all she felt was despair.

I failed.

She gave in to her fate, letting herself scatter, until she heard someone scream her name, and everything went white.

Wait, wait I know that voice.

She was scattered and drifting on the wind in a million little pieces, but still, she recognized the voice.

Who was it? It couldn’t have been Cinder, but no one else was there with us.

Slowly, she felt herself drift apart, wind taking her wherever it wanted.

Think Pyrrha, who’s voice was it?  
Wait, was it Ruby?

The second she thought it, she knew it was true.

Oh Ruby, I wish you didn’t have to see me die, I wish none of this ever happened.

She had given up, content to just die, but the smallest spark of hope ignited in her.  
Giving her strength to pull herself back.

I can’t die like this, I just can’t. I need to go find Ruby, and to protect her. Cinder won’t stop at just Beacon. At me. 

Bringing herself back was proving harder than she thought, the wind had picked up and she had just let it take her. But she had new resolve, and she was not giving up this time. 

 

It had taken her nearly a year to return to herself fully, but now she didn’t know where she was, and was too weak to continue.  
She let herself fall, and fell asleep, not realizing in her wish to find Ruby, that she had gone to Patch, but she was too late. Ruby was not here.

When she woke next, it was to a somehow familiar warmth seeping into her bones, giving her the strength to stand. She tried to take a step, but stumbled. In the months she had spent as Dust on the wind, she had forgotten how to function properly.

Opening her mouth, she let out a guttural scream.  
She was alone, basically powerless, and did not know where she was.  
She fell down to her knees, clutching her head in her hands. At least her motor skills were coming back, but she still screamed.  
It was all she really could do, she felt helpless and scared. Screaming at least reminded her that she was alive. 

A loud caw broke through Pyrrha’s screams, which caused her to stop, and look for the source.  
She was scanning the trees when a voice called out from behind her.

“Are you done?”

Whipping her head around so fast she lost balance, Pyrrha saw a black haired woman looking at her.  
It was weird, she somehow reminded her of Yang.

“Who are you?” Pyrrha croaked out, voice hoarse from screaming, and not forming proper words in months.

“That’s not important. What is important is that you are here, alone, screaming.” The woman stated, brushing off Pyrrha’s question. “Do you have any idea what attention you’re bringing?” 

Pyrrha’s eyes widened in shock, looking around, and sure enough, there were several red glowing eyes in the underbrush.

“Now be quiet, and stay behind me.” 

Pyrrha tried to get up, and succeeded, if you count clumsy steps as success.  
As she slowly crept up to the woman, Pyrrha was able to see more and more resemblances to Yang.  
The woman payed no attention to Pyrrha as she kept her eyes on the grimm, which were slowly creeping out from the shadows.

“Uh, thank you. For helping me.” Pyrrha said.

“Don’t be yet, you don’t know how this is going to turn out.” The woman said, and then the grimm attacked.

Pyrrha counted at least 3 beowolves, before a flash of red, and the woman had taken down two.  
More beowolves came out though, followed by an alpha. The woman cleaned through them easily, her blade flashing in the sunlight, until it broke on the alpha’s hide.  
Pyrrha went to rush forward, to help in any way, but the woman had managed to sheathe the handle, bringing it back out in an arc of blue across the alpha’s neck just as it raised its arm to strike.  
Pyrrha watched as the alpha froze, the exploded into chunks of ice. The woman seemed unimpressed, and was clearly a trained huntress. 

She was about to compliment her when she sensed something rush out behind her.  
Acting on reflex, and falling back into her fighting style, she pivoted and brought her hands up in front of her face in a defensive position.  
Her face fell when she saw it was an ursa. Without her weapons, or even aura, she was not going to be able to fight this thing successfully.  
She started to back up, to ask the woman for help, when the ursa swung.  
Before she could even move, a rush of power flowed through her.  
The ursa barely grazed her, and she swung back.  
She hit the ursa, and felt power flow through her to concentrate in her fist, exploding and freezing the ursa.  
The ursa flew backwards, hit a tree, and die.  
To say Pyrrha was shocked would be an understatement.

“Oh this is interesting.” 

Pyrrha turned to see the woman sauntering over to her, a smirk on her face.

“What, what just happened?” Pyrrha asked, looking at her hand, the power coursing through her veins.

“It seems, that you’ve inherited the fall maiden’s power.” The woman said, looking at Pyrrha with newfound interest.

“What? But Cinder got it.” Pyrrha was absolutely confused now. 

“Come with me. Some words are better said in private.” The woman turned and walked away.

“Who are you though? I don’t even know your name.” Pyyrha asked.

“You may call me Raven, but hurry, more grimm may be coming, and I need to find out what you know.” Raven said with more urgency in her voice.  
Pyrrha had questions of her own, but Raven was right, more grimm could come, and she didn’t want to be on her own, so she followed.

 

Raven took her to an old shack that looked abandoned; the walls had ivy and vines were creeping up the walls, the roof was sunken in, and there wasn’t even a door.

“Um, thank you for saving me earlier Raven.” Pyrrha took this time to thank her.

“Yeah, well, I was around, and decided to help. You really saved yourself though.” Raven sounded stiff, like she didn’t expect Pyrrha to thank her.

Raven led Pyrrha inside, and it was a bit nicer inside. The floor looked like it had been swept recently, and there was a bed that was too clean and new to have been originally part of the house.

“So, what do you know about the maidens?” Raven asked, arms crossed.

“Well, professor Ozpin-“ Pyrrha started but was cut off.

“First of all, anything that Ozpin has told you is a lie. But, you must have been a student, so you would have just believed anything he told you.” Raven held up a hand to stop Pyrrha.

“How do you know that?” Pyrrha asked, defensive on instinct.

“Because I know Ozpin, I know his lies.” Raven leant forward into Pyrrha’s space as she spoke, eyes angry.

“Well then what is the ‘truth’?” Pyrrha asked, staring Raven down.

“Ozpin is a liar, and has cursed the world with his feud with Salem. And maidens? Are his weapons.” Raven all but spat.

“Who is Salem? And why does Ozpin have a feud with her, how do you know this?” Pyrrha asked, still staring her down.

“Salem is, well no one knows truly what she is, but she controls Cinder, and the Grimm. I don’t know why Ozpin has this feud with her, but he’s dragged everyone around him into it.” Raven’s expression soured when she mentioned Cinder. 

“And as for how I know this, that bastard cursed me.”


	2. Make no apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha has questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im trying to pace when certain information comes into the story, so rest assured i know theres stuff that Raven should have told Pyrrha, but theres going to be a fair few chapters so be patient.

“How did he curse you? And why should I trust your word over his?” Pyrrha demanded.

“Do you want to see? It will give you proof at least that Ozpin hid stuff from you, lied to you.” Raven sneered.  
“I bet he told you that you had some great destiny.”

Pyrrha almost snarled, how dare this woman speak to her like that?

“What do you know?! What do you know of destiny?” Pyrrha snapped.

“Listen, we can sit here and fight all day, and attract more grimm, or you can just stop and think for a moment. What do I gain from lying to a lost girl?” Raven glared up at Pyrrha, words almost issuing a challenge.

“Raven, I still do not know who you are. Why should I trust you?” Pyrrha asked, steel in both her voice and gaze.

Raven just sighed, looked away from Pyrrha, and started pacing.

“I am grateful for your help, but aside from that, you’ve given me no reason to trust you.” Pyrrha continued.

Raven grumbled something under her breath, looked at the roof, and then turned to stare directly at Pyrrha, fire flickering out from her eyes in the telltale sign of a maiden.  
Pyrrha just stared.

“I think I can say my information about the maidens is trustworthy, don’t you?” Raven asked, smirking before the fire flared once, then died.

“Now as for other reasons why you should trust me, well I’ll be honest, you really shouldn’t, but I’m all you’ve got at the moment.” Raven shrugged.

Pyrrha thought for a moment, even if she wasn’t trustworthy, she was right. Pyrrha has nowhere to go, everyone thinks she’s dead. And she had no idea where Ruby is, so for the time being she’ll just have to deal with this woman.

“If you’re a maiden, do you have Cinder out for your blood too?” Pyrrha asked.

Raven snorted, as though even the thought of it was hilarious to her.

“That little upstart? Girl, did you not question where your newfound power came from? I killed her, and you must have been something to her because clearly she thought of you last.”

“Wait, so you weren’t joking? I’m the fall maiden? How did you even kill Cinder? She’s too powerful!” Pyrrha wrung her hands in confusion.

“I will admit, she gave me a decent fight. But all that power is nothing compared to years of honing my skills. She was too confident in her abilities, thought she was the best.” Raven said, lifting her chin in a slight show of respect.  
“But ultimately, she was a fool. You always have room to grow.”

Pyrrha just stared at Raven. This woman had managed to best Cinder, avenged her without really knowing, and now she was here, remembering it like it was simply a practise match.

“What even is Cinder to you?” Raven asked, voice cutting through her thoughts.

“She, she killed me. Or at least tried to. I was meant to inherit the fall maidens, Amber’s, power, but she interrupted the process, killed Ozpin, and killed me. She was responsible for destroying Beacon.” Pyrrha recounted the events, and felt herself start to cry, the memories were still too fresh, too painful for her to bear.

Raven felt sorry for the girl. Ozpin used her, lied to her, and ultimately it got her killed.

“What is your name?” Raven asked.

“Why does it matter anymore? Anyone who knew me thinks I’m dead.” Pyrrha deadpanned.

“Well you’re not; you should count yourself lucky that you’re alive.” Raven said, folding her arms.  
“Now what is your name? It is the one thing you should never throw away.” 

“Its, Pyrrha.” Pyrrha finally looked away from Raven.

“Pyrrha? Well I’ll be damned I do know you.” Raven chuckled.

“I’m not surprised. I’m pretty much a celebrity.” Pyrrha admitted.

“No, no not from that. I’ve, met, some people who know you.” Raven chose her words carefully, not wanting to let her know what she did to her allies.

“Ruby Rose?” Pyrrha perked up, looking back at Raven and scanning her face.

Raven looked very uncomfortable, like she was fighting herself, before finally answering.  
“Pyrrha, how about we set something here and now? There’s a huge possibility that we will be stuck with each other for awhile, so how about we agree to tell the truth to each other, unless the truth will directly harm the other?” 

“I feel as though you are more likely to lie than I am, so how are you benefitting from this?” Pyrrha asked, steel returning to her voice.

“You got me there. I have nothing to gain. But it helps ease my conscience if there is something set in place.” Raven shrugged, then smirked as though she had just gained the upper hand.

“However I do know something you would be very interested in.” Raven said.

“Oh really? Go on then.”

“Ruby, the rest of her team, and your old team are alive and safe.”

Pyrrha couldn’t help the smile that crept onto her face. The muscles in her face protested slightly, she hadn’t smiled in what seemed like forever, and she had almost forgotten what it was like to feel an emotion other than despair or anger.

“Do you know where they are? Who they’re with?” Pyrrha asked, visibly happier.

“Last I heard, they were in Haven academy. And they have Qrow babysitting them.”

“Why are they in Haven?” Pyrrha kept asking.

“They needed the relic, and before you ask, it is a very long story, I will tell you another time though, I can promise that.”

Pyrrha was itching to ask about the relic, but vowed to continue to ask about it later.

“Now are you done with questions for now? It’s getting late and we will need to take watches throughout the night.” Raven explained, gesturing toward the lack of a door.

“I have two questions. One, can you teach me how to use the maiden powers? I don’t like being defenceless and Cinder broke my weapons. And two, you still haven’t told me how Ozpin cursed you.” Pyrrha asked.

“Ah you’re a sharp one, aren’t you? Well, I will teach you what I can about maidens, how you use your power is up to you though, and I suppose I can show you the curse.” Raven smiled, baring her teeth in what Pyrrha hope was a mock threat, and then walked outside, beckoning her to follow.

When they got to the slight clearing just outside the shack, Raven turned to Pyrrha, smirked, and then ran to a tree, flitting behind it in a blur of black and red. When she didn’t reappear, Pyrrha felt a pang of anxiety, like a stone dropping in her stomach, over thinking about how obvious a trap this was.  
Then the same caw from earlier rang out again, and Pyrrha looked up to see a raven circling around, before folding its wings to its body and plummeting towards the earth, shifting at the last moment to become Raven, who then stood up as tall as she could be, and looked at Pyrrha expectantly.

“That’s just fitting. Raven turns into a raven. How do I know that’s not your semblance?” Pyrrha accused, it was almost too poetic.

“That is true, it could very well be my semblance, but it’s not.” Raven said.  
“You could just be lying.” Pyrrha said.

“I would show you my semblance, but trust me when I say nothing good would come of it right now.” Raven admitted, and took a step towards Pyrrha.  
“You don’t trust me, and I understand that, you need to question everything to survive in this world. But I will tell you this, I was cursed, Ozpin turned me into a bird so I could be his eyes against Salem.”

“Is Qrow cursed too?” Pyrrha asked.

“How do you know anything about Qrow?” Raven panicked slightly, she did not want to reveal her connection to Qrow and the sisters.

“Well for starters, not only do you look like him, but you look more and more like Yang the more I look at you, and when you mentioned him before it just cemented my theory. No one who doesn’t know Qrow would say his name like that.” Pyrrha smirked. It was true, Raven’s voice did take on a certain tone when she said his name.

“You caught me, but I will tell you more tomorrow. Trust me when I say the nights out here are harsh.” Raven said, and waited for Pyrrha to move before she went back inside.

“Take the bed; I will wake you when it’s your shift.” Raven said, and leant against the doorframe, hand on the hilt of her sword.

Pyrrha laid with her back against the wall, and watched Raven until she felt her eyes begin to drop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey yeah sorry this second chapter came so late. Theres been a family drama and schools started back so yep hectic. Im going to try and have chapters up weekly but if not, sorry, but i have a lot on my plate at the moment.


	3. The aftermath is secondary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taiyang comes across Raven and Pyrrha, and tries to help Pyrrha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey sorry that i havent updated this in awhile, this chapters been annoying to write.

Raven had been scanning the surrounding forest when Taiyang walked into the clearing.  
This wasn’t a surprise, he had been pretty quiet, but Raven’s aura had alerted her to his presence long before he got to the shack.

“Raven.” Was all he said, stopping in the middle of the clearing, standing with his arms crossed and a neutral expression on his face.

“Yes?”

“Why are you here?” 

Raven felt the slightest pang of guilt, there was something cold, something broken, in Taiyang’s voice.

“There are many reason’s as for why I’m here, but I doubt you’ll want to hear them all.” Raven kept her tone neutral, and mirrored his pose by crossing her own arms.

“Well then start with the simplest one, why are you here in Patch, and not in Mistral, or wherever the fuck your bandit tribe is.” Taiyang all but snarled.

“Simple answer? Salem found me.” Raven locked eyes with Taiyang.

“How? You’ve gone so long, how did she find you?” Taiyang sounded genuinely shocked, and the anger in his eyes gave way to worry for a split second.

“That’s a complicated answer Taiyang, and didn’t you say simple?” Raven teased.

“Raven.” Taiyang warned.

“Hey, your words not mine, but it’s a long story.” Raven threw her hands up in a light hearted manner.

Taiyang just sighed and ran a hand down his face, keeping it there for a few moments speaking.

“Are Ruby and Yang ok? Did Yang find Ruby? I know you know, so just tell me.”

“They’re, they’re fine.” Raven’s words caught in her throat for a moment,   
“They’re together, they’re safe, and they’ve grown so strong, Tai.”

Taiyang’s shoulders shook and Raven could hear him sob.

“Tai?” She asked, taking a step towards him.

“I’m just so glad my girls are safe, I’ve been so worried about them, especially after what happened at Beacon.” Taiyang lifted his head, wiping his tears away, and Raven could see that he was smiling.

“Well, Qrow is with them, and they have their team, and those other kids, they’re as safe as anyone is.” Raven left the part about Yang taking the relic out, no need for Tai to know that, besides it’d just make him worry more.

“Well, that’s good, but you still haven’t explained why you’re here.” 

“I needed somewhere to stay, just for a bit, and you were the only one I could warp to.” Raven admitted, stepping back against the doorframe.

“You could have come to the house.” 

“And what? Fight with you? Become a family again? Tai, we both know those days are long gone, whatever we had is just not there anymore.” Raven let ice creep into her voice, breaking eye contact with Taiyang to scan the forest again.

“You’re right, but I still would have let you in. Regardless of what you’ve done, it’s just not right to turn you away from what once was your home too.” Taiyang took a few steps forward, dropping his arms.

“It’s fine, besides this place is just temporary, no one will notice whether I’m here or not.” 

“Where will you go from here? Are you going to continue hiding? Where’s all your talk of strength.” Taiyang’s words cut straight through Raven, and she was reminded once again of how similar Tai and Yang really were.

“It’s, complicated.” 

“What’s so complicated? You see something you think you can’t fight, and you run.” Taiyang was starting to raise his voice now,  
“You ran from Salem. You ran from our team. You ran from us.”

“Taiyang you know exactly why I ran, now keep your voice down.” Raven whipped her head around, searching frantically, before leaning towards Taiyang.

“Why? What are you running from now?” Taiyang asked.

“It’s not that it’s-“Raven started, but got cut off by

“What’s going on?”

Pyrrha was standing in the doorway, rubbing sleep from her eyes, but still clearly on edge, ready to fight.

“Oh.” Was all Taiyang could say, as he stared at a girl he thought was dead.

“Who are you?” Pyrrha asked, hands clenched into fists.

“I, uh, I’m Taiyang, Ruby and Yang’s dad.” 

Pyrrha perked up at the mention of her friends, and she took a few steps forward, Taiyang noticing she walked a bit awkwardly, the tear in her boot indicating why.

“Are you ok? When Ruby woke up all she could talk about was you, and well, I had assumed the worst.” Taiyang asked.

“I, I don’t know, I really don’t know.” Pyrrha mumbled, wringing her hands and looking around frantically. 

“Hey hey, it’s ok, calm down you’re safe here.” Taiyang knew a panic attack when he saw one, and knew that here wasn’t the best place to have one.

Raven just kept scanning the forest as Taiyang comforted Pyrrha beside her.

“Pyrhha, do you want to come back to my house? I can get you some food and a hot drink and we can talk about what happened? We can talk here if you want, but this is not the best place to talk.” Taiyang had taken a few steps towards Pyrrha, and was talking in a calm, soothing voice.

“I, I,” Pyrrha was sobbing and stuttering her words.

“It’s ok, you don’t have to talk, just let me know somehow if you do want to come.” 

 

Pyrrha just nodded, and tried to regulate her breathing a bit.

“I, I do want to come with you, but I don’t know how I’m going to talk about this.” Pyrrha managed, before sobbing again.

Taiyang just drew her into a hug, letting her cry it out.

“Raven, come on, were going home.”

Raven started to protest, but one look from Tai stopped the words in her throat.  
Pyrrha just kept sobbing, but walked with Taiyang when he started to walk back to his house.  
Raven just sighed, but still shifted and flied ahead.

When they got to the house, Taiyang left Pyrrha on the couch with Raven, who stayed standing, while he ran further into the house.  
After a few moments of Raven’s silence, and Pyrrha’s slight, hiccupping sobs, Raven growled, rolled her shoulders, and sat down next to Pyrrha.

“Hey, kid, I’m not so good at this comforting business, but you’re going to be ok here.” 

“You say that like you plan on leaving.” Pyrrha saw right through her.

“I can’t stay here, in this house, not with all the memories attached to it.” Raven admitted, no use lying to the girl.

“What about me? You said you’d help train me.” 

“Be quiet about that, I don’t think Tai knows about my maidenhood.” Raven whispered, eyes darting to the door that Taiyang had went through.

“Well the fact still stands, you said you would, and I honestly need the help.” Pyrrha whispered back.  
“Besides, you’re one to talk about memories, you haven’t just died.” 

Raven leaned back, for a girl who was just nearly falling apart, she was sharp as a razor, and her words had steel to them.  
Before Raven could respond, Taiyang came walking into the lounge room, somehow holding a blanket, a plate, and a cup of something that was hot enough to have a trail of steam swirling from it.  
He ungracefully dumped the blanket on Raven, whose protest was drowned out by him setting the plate and cup down, and sitting down on the other side of Pyrrha.

“I didn’t know if you liked coffee or tea, so I just made hot chocolate, everyone likes hot chocolate.” Taiyang smiled.

“I, uh, thank you.” Pyrrha stumbled her words out.

“Here, kid.” Raven draped the blanket across Pyrrha’s shoulders, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder before drawing back into herself.

Pyrrha slowly took the cup, hands shaking slightly, and took a long sip. It was warm and sweet and everything hot chocolate should be, and Pyrrha could feel herself start to cry again.   
Taiyang immediately went to comfort her but Pyrrha shook her head.

“I’m ok, it’s ok. It’s just been so long since I’ve been able to be a person.” Pyrrha laughed, voice shaking.

“Well, as long as you’re ok. You don’t have to talk tonight, or even tomorrow, but if you can, at some point, I just need to know what happened.” Taiyang explained, eyes flicking over to Raven for a second.

“Ok, well, I don’t think I’m going to be able to talk anymore tonight, it’s just too much.” Pyrrha’s voice wavered, and she continued to drink her hot chocolate.

“That’s ok; you don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.” Taiyang rubbed a circle onto Pyrrha’s back.

Pyrrha smiled slightly, keeping the cup pressed to her lips despite it now being empty, and just let herself be happy for a moment.

“Um, Taiyang?” Pyrrha asked after a few minutes,

“Yes?”

“Where am I going to be sleeping?” 

“Oh, yeah I forgot I accidentally woke you up. You can sleep in either the guest room or in Ruby and Yang’s room.” Taiyang started, then turned to Raven,  
“You can take either one as well, or the couch if you want.”

“I’ll take the guest room, sorry Pyrrha but I don’t think I could sleep in my daughter’s room.” Raven said, and walked to the room without a goodbye.

“Ok then, I guess I’ll take the other room.” Pyrrha tried to laugh about it, but it fell flat.

“Alright! I’ll show you where it is. Do you want me to bring your food, or are you not hungry?” Taiyang all but jumped up, and helped Pyrrha up.

Pyrrha pulled the blanket in tighter around her, looked at her plate, and couldn’t even tell if she was hungry or not.

“Um, I’ll bring it with me.” 

“Ok, well then follow me.” Taiyang led Pyrrha through the house until they reached a door with weapon and grimm decals all over it.

“I’m guessing Ruby did that.” Pyrrha remembered the first time she studied with Ruby, and all her notebooks were filled with doodles of either crescent rose, or other student’s weapons.

“Yeah, she’s always been interested in weapons, always wanted to be a huntress.” Taiyang said with a fond smile on his face.

Taiyang opened the door for Pyrrha and followed her in.  
The room had two beds, a few bookcases with a few grimm figures on them, and a cluster of pictures and photos across the walls.

“I’ll get you some of Yang’s clothes to sleep in, they should fit you, and it’s better than sleeping in armour. That’s Ruby’s bed, and that’s Yang’s.” Taiyang said, pointing to the beds.

“Thank you, Taiyang. I can see where Ruby and Yang get their kindness from.” Pyrrha cracked a small smile, and walked over to sit on Ruby’s bed, setting her plate on the bedside table.

Taiyang’s smile was as bright as his daughters, and he starting going through one of the drawers, pulling out a few clothes.

“Here you go, now if you need anything, I’m just a few doors down. The bathroom’s at the end of the hall on the left.” Taiyang explained, setting the clothes on the bed next to Pyrrha.

Pyrrha just smiled and nodded, and Taiyang left the room.

As soon as she could no longer hear Taiyang’s footsteps, Pyrrha let of a long, drawn out sigh, and fell back onto the bed, throwing an arm over her eyes

“Today has been an awfully complicated day, but I am so glad Taiyang came along.” She whispered aloud to herself.

Rolling onto her side, she reached out and pulled one of Ruby’s pillows towards her and hugged it, feeling tears once again fall down her cheeks.

“It’s ok, I am safe.” Pyrrha repeated to herself over and over, trying to calm herself, and to remind herself that, for the moment, she was indeed safe.

After a few more minutes, she sat back up, and started taking off her armour, gently placing them on the floor beside the bed.   
When she took her boots off, she finally noticed the scar on her ankle, from Cinder’s arrow. Holding her hand to her mouth to try and stop the sob, she got up and looked for a mirror.   
She found one, on one of the dressers, and pulled the neckline of her, no Yang’s, shirt down, unable to stop the gasp that came when she saw the dark, almost black, scar that spread in jagged lines from her sternum. 

“No, no, no, no.” Pyrrha whispered,  
“This can’t be real, scars don’t scar like this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im on tumblr @so-owlyoudoing, so if anyone wants to swing by and chat feel free too.


	4. Broken glass in morning light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo boy, sorry ive taken so long to update this, schools been kicking my ass and i couldnt figure out how to write this particular type of angst, but here it is, and hopefully you all like it.

Pyrrha just kept staring at the scar.  
The more she looked, the more it freaked her out.  
It looked like a Grimm.

Hesitantly, she reached up with her other hand and gently touched the centre of the scar.

“Argh!” Pyrrha screamed out in pain, the second she touched the scar, it pulsed and sent out a spike of pain outwards, leaving her sternum numb but the rest of her body in pain.

She grabbed on to the hem of the shirt and fell to her knees; her chin luckily missed the edge of the desk as she fell.  
With her eyes shut tight, and with the pain still burning through her body, she didn’t see or sense her aura flicker weakly in an attempt to heal the wound, but she did hear footsteps running into the room.

“Pyrrha?!” Taiyang had ran in first, and quickly dropped down to face Pyrrha.

“It, hurts.” Was all that Pyrrha could manage to get out.

“Where does it- Oh.” Taiyang started to ask, but saw the scar, and signalled for Raven, who had been hovering in the doorway, to come over.

“Pyrrha, I’m going to help you get up, and get back onto the bed, can I pick you up?” Taiyang asked, eyes trained on Pyrrha.

Pyrrha just managed to nod once, before she gasped in pain, as another spike of pain went through her body.  
Taiyang grimaced in sympathy, and slid a arm behind her shoulders, lifting her up enough to get the other arm underneath her, and fully picked her up.

“Oh shit.” Raven swore when she saw the scar.

Taiyang took Pyrrha over to Ruby’s bed again, and set her down gently.

“Can you speak? Or does it hurt too much?” Taiyang asked.

Pyrrha’s silence answered his question, and he frowned. 

“Raven, do you know what this is?” Taiyang turned to ask her.

“I’ll be honest, if it’s what I think it is, it’s going to be a really long and painful healing process for her.” Raven moved Taiyang out of the way to look at the scar again.

“What is it though?”

“It’s a type of Grimm, it burrows into wounds and stays there, called a Liderc.” Raven was kneeling besides the bed now.

“Pyrrha, this is going to hurt, but I need to put pressure on the scar.”

Pyrrha’s eyes snapped open, and she stared at Raven with pure fear in her eyes.

“Raven, she’s already in so much pain, what would more pain accomplish?” Taiyang tried to reason with her.

“Tai, I know how to deal with these Grimm, and putting pressure on the wound is the only way to get it out.” Raven snapped, whipping around to glare at him.

“Now get ready to kill this thing, go for the head.” 

Raven patted Pyrrha’s shoulder once, before pressing down on the scar.  
Pyrrha screamed, and thrashed on the bed.

“Hey hey it’s ok.” Taiyang tried to calm her down, and grabbed one of her hands.

Pyrrha squeezed it with a death grip, and tried to stop her thrashing.

“Tai, it’s gonna come out soon, get ready.” Raven warned, and pressed a bit harder.

Taiyang’s response was drowned out by another scream from Pyrrha, and all of a sudden, black smoke and white bone burst from Pyrhha’s chest, forming into a monkey like creature.

“Now!” Raven yelled, and Taiyang swung at its head, but it jumped out of the way, landing on a bedpost.

Taiyang jumped up and swung again, trying to back it into a corner.  
The Liderc dodged again, jumping over his head, away from the corner.

“Shit it’s fast.” Taiyang cursed, and went to swing again, but the Liderc dodged, right into Raven’s foot.

It flew across the room and slammed against a wall.  
Raven and Taiyang started to rush towards it, when they heard Pyrrha gasp, and the model Akouo Yang had on a shelf flew into the shelf of bone covering the Liderc’s forehead.  
It twitched once, and dissipated into dust.

“Well, I guess I can still use my semblance.” Pyrrha laughed weakly, and Taiyang turned around just in time to see her slump back down on the bed.

“Pyrrha!” Taiyang ran up to her, and made sure that she was still conscious. 

“I’m alright.” Pyrrha cracked a smile.

“You’re going to be in pain for anywhere from a week to a month, all you can do is let your body heal naturally, as your aura will be healing itself.” Raven explained, picking up the shield, and putting it back on the shelf.

“We can make sure things here are comfortable for you, but nothing we can do will ease the pain.”

“So you’re staying?” Pyrrha asked, the pain in her body had lessened when the Liderc died, so she was able to talk without it hurting. But her body still hurt, still burned.

“Yeah, I’ve figured it’s probably best to stay here for awhile, no one would ever think I’d come back here, so it’s a decent hiding place.” Raven shrugged.

Pyrrha just smiled.

“Pyrrha, do you need one of us to stay in here tonight?” Taiyang asked.

“No, I think I’ll be alright, that things out of me now, and while everything still hurts, it’s nowhere near as bad as it was before.” Pyrrha shook her head.

“Yeah it should start to fade a bit, but as long as you’ve still got that black scarring on your body, it will hurt. If you need help just call out.” Raven said as she started to leave.

“Goodnight, Raven, thank you for helping me.” Pyrrha said softly.

Raven stopped walking, and turned slightly

“It’s nothing, goodnight kiddo.”

And she left the room at that.

“Has she always been like this?” Pyrrha asked Taiyang, who was still sitting by the bed.

“Which part? She’s always been a bit aloof, and has always found it hard to express her emotions and feelings properly. But, she’s a very sincere person when it comes to things she’s deemed important, and was always very driven.” Taiyang mused, staring at the empty door.

“Why did she leave Yang and you?” Pyrrha asked again, moving a bit to lay on the pillows more comfortably. 

“I think she was scared. Scared of losing her freedom, and scared of how much she cared about her. She loves Yang, but like I said, she’s never been good at showing love.” 

Pyrrha noted that Taiyang had a strange, almost wistful tone to his voice, and felt sorry for him.

“Sorry, I did not mean to bring up bad memories.” Pyrrha apologised.

“Nah, it’s ok, I’ve gotten over it. Hopefully Yang’s gotten through it too.” Taiyang flashed a smile at Pyrrha, before his voice took on the wistful tone again.

“Well, if you need anything at all, just yell. Goodnight Pyrrha.”

“Goodnight Taiyang.”

 

When Taiyang walked out into the hall, he saw that Raven was waiting at the end of it.

“I am sorry Taiyang, I walked out on you and our daughter, and all I can say is sorry.”  
Taiyang noticed that there were tears in Raven’s eyes.

Before he could say anything, she turned and went into her room.

“Raven…” Taiyang whispered, and went to follow her, but decided against it, and went back into his own room.

 

Back in Ruby and Yang’s room, Pyrrha was staring at the ceiling.   
The pain in her body had faded a bit, but it was still really bad.  
She had brushed of most of Taiyang’s concerns, but she knew Raven knew that she was in more pain then she was letting on.  
She couldn’t help it, it was just how she was, she didn’t want Taiyang staying up any longer because of her, and she could just grit and bear the pain. After dying this was nothing, she kept telling herself.  
She could ignore most of the pain, but what she couldn’t ignore, was the fact that she was still lying on Ruby’s bed, and the all too familiar swirl of butterflies bubbled up in her stomach, and she felt herself smile.  
She also felt the telltale signs of anxiety and paranoia come creeping back in, and the small voice in the back of her mind piped up again.  
She tried not to listen to it, but like every other time, she couldn’t stop but think, what if Ruby really just saw her as a friend, what if it wasn’t even that? Oh what would she think if she knew she was lying on her bed right now?   
Pyrrha grimaced and felt tears prick her eyes, and she started to sob, trying to keep quiet as she felt something cold tug at her gut.  
She curled up into a ball and stayed like that, quietly sobbing as the first rays of dawn slowly crept over her body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A liderc is a type of Hungarian Demon, im going to draw out what ive been imagining it to look like, and post it on my tumblr @so-owlyoudoing hopefully within the week.


	5. Face all the pain and take it on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha puts on a brave face, and also needs to get her hair off her skin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry i havent updated in awhile! I've been preparing for a con so ive been pretty busy

Pyrrha’s sleep was surprisingly peaceful, considering the pain she felt when she woke up.  
She was grateful for the fact that the sunlight that was coming in through the windows, was not in her eyes.  
She stayed in bed for a few more moments, still a bit groggy, before swinging her legs over the side of the bed.  
The second her feet hit the floor, a fresh wave of pain spiked up and across her body, making her gasp and shudder in pain.  
Gritting her teeth, she stood up, and despite the pain, made her way out of the room.  
As she walked down the hallway, leaning on the wall for support, she realised that she didn’t remember where the bathroom was, and went to call out for Taiyang, but saw Raven step out of her room.

“Hey, Raven?” Pyrrha asked.

“Hmm?” Raven’s eyes darted up to hold Pyrrha in a stare.

“I forgot where the bathroom is.” Pyrrha admitted, smiling sheepishly, but keeping eye contact, despite the thrumming feeling of wrong going through her fingertips.

Raven smirked, and finally dropped her eyes, which made Pyrrha slump her shoulders in relief, and turned around, gesturing to her to follow.  
Pyrrha took a few steps before audibly gasping out in pain.  
She clenched her fists and hissed through her teeth, and tried to keep walking, but it was a lot harder than before, luckily Raven had rushed back down the hallway to help her.  
With Raven’s help supporting her, Pyrrha was able to get to the bathroom.

“Alright kid, do what you need to, I’ll be outside if you need help.” Raven said, helping Pyrrha lean against the sink.

“Thank you.” Pyrrha smiled, and set about doing her business once Raven shut the door.

When she was washing her hands, she looked at herself properly in the mirror.  
She looked, well she looked like shit. The scar was spread across her collarbones and neck like a sickly black spiderweb, her bottom lip was scabbed from where she must have bit it in pain, and her hair, her hair was knotted and tangled, but, somehow still in her ponytail. Without her tiara though, her fringe fell down into her face.  
She cursed under her breath, and tried to untangle some of it with her hands, but that’s when the pain, which had been just a dull ache, still incredibly painful, but easier to ignore, decided to flare up again.

“Ah fuck!” Pyrrha cried out, gripping the edge of the sink so hard her knuckles turned white.

She barely recognised the sound of the door slamming open, but she did recognise Raven’s presence next to her, lifting her up, and gently helping her to sit on the floor against the wall.

“-ey, hey kid, Pyrrha? You with me?” 

“Huh?” Pyrrha looked up, sight a bit blurry, but saw Raven crouched down in front of her.

“I said are you with me? Are you ok?” Raven was staring at her, and had her hands hovering around Pyrrha’s shoulders, like she wanted to comfort her, but didn’t at the same time.

“Yeah, I’m fine, pain just flared up.” Pyrrha mumbled, tipping her head back to lean against the wall.

“Ok, well if you don’t need to do anything else, I’ll help you back to your bed.”

Pyrrha went to agree, but was suddenly hyper aware of her hair against her neck and face. It was oily and horrible and she wanted it off her skin as soon as possible.

“Actually, can you help me with my hair?” Pyrrha asked, fingers drumming an erratic beat against her thigh.

“Yeah, of course, let me just find a brush.” Raven looked slightly shocked, but her face smoothed back into her normal neutral expression, and went over to the cupboard under the sink.

Without Raven staring at her, Pyrrha felt like she could finally breath. It’s not that she didn’t like Raven, it was just that the attention was almost unbearable. 

“Ok, you know what, this would probably be easier to do in the room, and you can sit on the bed, instead of the floor.” Raven helped Pyrrha up, and slung an arm across her back to help her back to the room.

“You’re a lot nicer today.” Pyrrha teased, trying to keep her full weight off Raven.

“Would you prefer I was a stone cold bitch?” Raven replied quick as a whip, then chuckled and continued,  
“You’ve been through a lot, and the last thing you need right now is me being all moody and broody. Besides, you had a Liderc in you, and you’re going to have to go through a hell of a healing process, so I’m going to help as much as I can.”

“I didn’t mean to offend, sorry. But thank you.” Pyrrha smiled slightly.

“I’ve got thick skin; it’d take a lot more than that to offend me.” Raven actually laughed, and Pyrrha thought happiness suited her.

Raven sat Pyrrha down on the bed, and looked over her hair, deciding where to start.

“Ok, this might hurt, your hairs a mess.” Raven grimaced, and untied Pyrrha’s ponytail.

“Yeah I know, but considering the pain I’m already in, what’s a few knots and tangles gonna do?” Pyrrha joked.

Raven just shrugged her shoulders in a sort of ‘good point’ gesture, and started brushing Pyrrha’s hair, being as gentle as she could, but some, if not most, of the knots required force.  
Pyrrha winced a few times, as her hair was pulled and brushed, but she stayed sitting still, letting Raven do her work. She couldn’t stay completely still though, and drummed her fingers against her thigh again, settling into the same old rhythm she always did.

 

Raven finally got half the back done, when she heard Taiyang come into the room.  
She acknowledged him with a slight nod, and went back to brushing Pyrrha’s hair.

“Hey Pyrrha?” Taiyang asked, walking around to sit next to her.

“Yes?” Pyrrha opened the eyes she didn’t realise she had closed, and flicked them over to Taiyang quickly, before looking behind him.

“I’ve made breakfast, so I’ll bring it up soon, but how do you like your bacon and eggs?” 

“Crispy and sunny side up. Thank you Taiyang, sorry I didn’t eat the food you gave me last night.” Pyrrha looked down, feeling a bit bad.

“No no it’s fine, you were in a lot of pain, I wouldn’t want to eat anything either.” Taiyang quickly waved aside Pyrrha’s concerns, a big, genuine smile on his face.

“I’m nearly done with her hair, so I can help you with the dishes if you want.” Raven said, still focused on Pyrrha’s hair, but obviously listening to them.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want, but I never turn down help.” Taiyang still had the smile on his face, but Pyrrha could tell it had changed into something more forced.

With that, Taiyang patted Pyrrha on the shoulder lightly, and got up to go back downstairs.

“Thank you again Taiyang.” Pyrrha called out.

Taiyang just smiled, his normal smile back, and left.  
Pyrrha and Raven fell back into silence once he left, but it didn’t last long.

“Do you want me to do your hair up?” Raven asked, moving to run the brush through her fringe, tickling Pyrrha’s face a bit.

“Yes please, it’s really oily and I need to wash it, but I can’t right now, so can you get it off my face and neck please?” Pyrrha asked, turning her head away from the brush slightly.

“Yeah that’s fine; I wouldn’t want oily hair on my skin either.” Raven said with a chuckle.

Deciding the best way to get it all up, with the one hair tie she had, would be to braid most of it, and so she started braiding.

“I’m just going to braid your hair ok? It’s easier this way. I’ll have to find something else for your fringe though.” Raven explained as her fingers moved, pulling the fiery strands together.

“Thank you, Raven.” Pyrrha said, voice sincere.

“It’s ok kid, you don’t have to thank me, I’m just being a decent person for once in my life.”

Pyrrha went to protest that, then remembered how torn up Yang was about her mother, and kept quiet.

 

Raven was pulling the braids up into a bun when Taiyang came back, carrying a plate of food.

“Hey Tai, do you have any bobby pins? I just need to pull her fringe back and I’m done.” Raven asked.

“Um, I think Yang had some in the bathroom, I’ll go look now.” And once again Taiyang was leaving the room.

Pyrrha looked at the plate that Taiyang had left, and laughed when she saw he had made a face with the bacon and eggs. She took a piece of bacon, and was delighted to find it was perfectly crispy.

“Ah yeah Tai always did play with his food. He’d always start food fights back at Beacon.” Raven mused, tying the bun up and making sure there were no loose ends.

“We had a food fight too, it was pretty funny, Nora sent Yang through the roof, and then Ruby kicked our asses.” Pyrrha smiled at the memory, laughing when she remembered Ruby’s theatrics.

Raven went to say how she wasn’t surprised at that, when Taiyang came back into the room, brandishing bobby pins and a headband.

“I found them!” He yelled excitedly.

“Yes we can see that, pass them over.” Raven tried to hide her smirk.

Taiyang just grumbled good naturedly and gave them to her, before sitting next to Pyrrha again.

“How’s he bacon? Did I get it crispy enough?” He asked, seeing Pyrrha was eating.

“Yes it’s really good! Thank you again.” Pyrrha smiled.

“Well I’m glad.” Taiyang hummed, looking pleased with himself.

Raven tilted Pyrrha’s head up to get at her fringe better and pinned it back before sliding the headband in.

“There you go, that should do you until you can wash your hair.” Raven stood back to admire her handiwork, pleased with how she got the bun.

Pyrrha wiggled her shoulders in a little happy dance, happy that she no longer has the sensory nightmare of oily hair on her skin.  
“Thanks again, Raven, this feels a lot better.”

“No problem kid, I’m just going to go for a walk now, will you be alright here with Taiyang?” Raven asked, rolling her shoulders to stretch.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Pyrrha smiled at her, and Raven smiled slightly back, before leaving.

“Well she’s in a good mood today.” Taiyang said.

“I know, happiness suits her.” Pyrrha mused, before going back to her food.

Taiyang just smiled, and stared at her.

She’s pretty amazing, he thought, considering how much pain she was in last night, and would still be in, not even to mention what must be going on inside her head, and yet here she is, putting on a happy face and going about as if everything’s normal.  
He knew how she must be feeling though, her whole world is chaos and pain right now, but instead of focusing on the bad, and falling into a depression, she’s putting on a brave face and trying to stay happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can pry autistic Pyrrha from my cold dead hands


	6. If you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha’s finally healed of the Grimm, so she should be fine, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry for the real long wait, last year was really hectic for me(finally finished year 11 after three years of trying) hopefully this chapter and the chapters to come will make up for it

The next few weeks became a bit of a blur for Pyrrha.  
She woke up to pain every morning, and if she was lucky she was able to sleep through the night.   
She vaguely remembers Raven helping her shower, though the pain of throwing up halfway through is what lingered. Still, it was nice to be clean again.   
Taiyang was never more than a call away, and when he needed to be downstairs, he left Zwei in the room.   
Zwei, Pyrrha found, was excellent at giving cuddles.  
However at the end of a long month full of pain, Pyrrha woke to find the pain had gone.

“What?” Pyrrha mumbled, pushing herself upwards.

She touched her sternum,and when she looked down there was no trace left of the black lines that had been spiderwebbed across her body for weeks.  
Pyrrha laughed, relief and joy washing over her as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, took a step, and promptly fell over the stack of books she had left on the floor.   
The loud thud attracted the other denizens of the house, Zwei arriving first to nuzzle at her hand. Pyrrha rubbed behind his ear in gratitude.

“Pyrrha are you ok?” Taiyang asked upon entering the room.

Pyrrha just laughed and rolled into her back.  
“Taiyang I’m perfectly fine!”

Raven then came in, looking worried for a split second, then her normal confident mask was back.  
She gave Pyrrha a quick once over before a grin split across her face.

“You’re healed!” Raven said, then turned to Taiyang and shook his shoulders,

“Tai she’s healed the grimms gone!” 

Taiyang ignored her, and squatted down next to Pyrrha and smoothed her hair back.  
“You ok kiddo?” 

“Yes Taiyang, I don’t feel the pain anymore.” Pyrrha giggled, and moved to sit up.

Suddenly the world went dizzy and Pyrrha fell back down, just catching herself on her hands.  
Taiyang immediately steadied her.

“You sure you’re ok?” He asked again, a smile on his lips but worry in his eyes.

“I feel dizzy.” 

“Yeah a month of being stuck in bed will do that. Cmon, I’ll help you downstairs.” Taiyang shifted and braced Pyrrha as he got up, pulling her with him.

“Thank you Taiyang.” Pyrrha said as he helped her stand properly. 

Raven came forwards and helped brace Pyrrha on her other side, and together they helped Pyrrha get downstairs.

 

Once downstairs Taiyang hurried off to the kitchen, leaving Pyrrha on the couch with Raven.

“You sure you’re feeling ok kid?” Raven asked, helping Pyrrha get comfortable against the cushions.

“Yeah I’m fine!” Pyrrha said, flashing a smile at Raven.

“You can’t lie to a liar.” 

Pyrrha shivered as Raven stared her down, no malice in her eyes but still a clear show of who’s boss.

“Fine, I’m not ok. Happy?” Pyrrha gritted through teeth she hadn’t realised she clenched.

“There, was that hard?” Raven smirked, and broke the eye contact before Pyrrha got uncomfortable.  
“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong? Tai will be a bit.”

Pyrrha opened her mouth, then shut it, not finding the words she needed.

“I, don’t know. I felt like, I should be happy? So I was? But I just felt empty.” Pyrrha explained, flapping her hands a bit.

“Empty how?”

“Like, I don’t know. I’ve just spent how long in bed and in constant pain, and then I wake up and it’s all gone? I’m confused and happy and I think all my emotions just happened too much.” Pyrrha growled at the end of her sentence, grinding her teeth slightly.

“I’ve seen similar things happen to my tribe, when they went through the healing process. I don’t know how you process things, but you might just need a bit to reset, and sort through your feelings.”

“I think you may be right.” Pyrrha agreed, and laid back against the couch with a groan.

“What do you do to relax?” Raven asked, shifting to face Pyrrha’s new position.

“If I’m being honest? I haven’t relaxed properly in years. Too much stress, not enough time. If I could train it might help, hitting things always helped in the past.” Pyrrha ran a hand down her face, grimacing at the oil on her face.

“I’m having a good long shower first though.” 

Raven laughed, which almost perfectly signalled Taiyang’s return.

“I come bearing gifts! Bacon and toast and tomatoes! And eggs, oh the eggs are to die for!” Taiyang announced in a goofy voice.

Pyrrha laughed, a proper laugh that bubbles up from her chest, and had her curling in on herself.  
As Taiyang placed the plates down on the coffee table, he motioned for Raven to follow him back into the kitchen.

“Be back in a second kid, funny guy over here needs help with the cups.” Raven said as she got up from the couch. 

Pyrrha was still giggling, but waved a hand at Raven.  
Raven felt a small smile spread across her face, and walked towards the kitchen.

 

“Did you have a talk with her?” Taiyang asked, reaching up for the cupboards.

“Yes, she said she’s feeling empty, and hasn’t relaxed properly in years. She said training might help, so I’ll leave that to you.” Raven said as she flicked the kettle on and grabbed two teaspoons.

“Yeah that’s probably best, I’ve seen her tournaments, and the vytal festival, so I know a bit of her fighting style. Shouldn’t be too hard to be a training partner for her.” Taiyang pulled down three mugs and set them next to the kettle.

“I was also thinking of going into Vale soon, getting her some clothes.” Raven spooned coffee into two cups, and placed a teabag in the last.

“Good idea, Yangs clothes are a bit short on her, and I’m sure she’d appreciate her own clothes.” Taiyang nodded, and moved further along the bench to get the milk out of the fridge. 

“I’ll leave the rest to you and go check on her.” Raven said as the kettle whistled.

Taiyang just hummed, and finished the tea and coffees.

 

Raven walked back into the lounge room to see Pyrrha up and about, looking at the photos adorning the walls.   
Raven watched as Pyrrha stayed staring at a photo of Ruby.  
Raven moved forwards to look at the photo too.  
In the photo, Ruby was smiling at the camera, cradling her weapon up in her arms. She had flowers through her hair, most likely put there by Yang.  
Raven cleared her throat, and Pyrrha jumped.

“I was just looking at the photos!” Pyrrha stammered.

Raven chuckled, and patted Pyrrha’s shoulder.  
“It’s fine kid, you’re allowed to look. And I’d bet you’d be missing your friends too.” 

“Yeah, I really miss them.” Pyrrha said, smiling, but the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“You’ll see them again, don’t worry. And I know they miss you too.” 

Pyrrha just nodded, and kept looking at the photos.

“Cmon kid, Tai’s made you some tea. And you’ve got to finish your breakfast.”

“Yeah ok. You too though, you haven’t even started.” Pyrrha joked, nudging Raven as she walked past.

Raven scoffed at her in false offence.

 

Taiyang rejoined them and they ate breakfast in relative silence. When they all finished Pyrrha insisted on helping clean up, despite both Raven and Taiyang urging her to stay seated.

“Taiyang let me help, I want to help.” Pyrrha stated, already filling the sink with water, using her semblance to bring over the cutlery subconsciously.

“Oh you can use your semblance properly again!” Taiyang cheered, clapping Pyrrha on the shoulder.

Pyrrha started, and the cutlery fell, luckily into the sink. 

“I didn’t even realise I was doing that.” Pyrrha half laughed. 

Pyrrha tried to use her semblance again, closing her eyes and trying to tap into the power just under her skin, and reopened her eyes to see a single fork floating, wobbly but floating. Pyrrha smirked, and led it into the sink, pleased with the slight progress. 

“Good job Pyrrha!” Taiyang said, and when Pyrrha turned back to face him he was beaming.

“It’s not that impressive. It’s really nothing compared to how I am normally.” Pyrrha said and averted her eyes. 

“Pyrrha you’ve just spent a month bedridden with your aura pressed to its limits, the fact that you can control your semblance this fast again is an impressive achievement.” Taiyang stayed clearly. 

“I guess.” Pyrrha said and got back to washing dishes.

“How about we train a bit later? I’ll bring the gear out of the shed.” Taiyang asked as he started drying the dishes.

“Can I take a shower first? I feel yuck.” Pyrrha said, and grimaced.

“Of course.” Taiyang laughed and they finished the rest of the dishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m kinda half basing some of Pyrrha’s characteristics on my own, hence the manic depression and stress.


End file.
